Staff Writer

Story - OK, first of all, the cover to this issue is false advertising, I read this comic, and the bad guys still won! You lied to me Spidey! You will see me in court! Oh yes.

Only joking, I would never sue Spider-Man. And I suppose he was right in one way, some bad guys did lose, as in the Intelligencia. But they were defeated by some other bad guys. It's a legal minefield, but it made for a very solid issue of Amazing Spider-Man.

Albeit one without Spider-Man in it at all. After the epic events of Spider-Island and an exhausting fight with the Vulture, Spider-Man takes a break and Slott instead shines a light onto a subplot that's been running for the last little while in the pages of ASM, and one that looks like being the big Spider-Story of 2012. The Sinister Six are back in earnest, and they mean business.

The main bulk of this story is Doc Octopus leading the Sinister Six up against the Intelligencia, the group of villains Loeb introduced in Hulk who are supposedly the smartest bad guys in the world. But Ock of course takes exception to that and decides to destroy them. It was a lot of fun to see the likes of Doc Ock and Chameleon go up against MODOK and Red Ghost. We're used to seeing heroes fight each other, but having villains do it is something new. Slott of course manages to come up with several interesting bits of continuity business in the fight, like the great scene where Sandman and the Wizard discuss their time together as members of the Frightful Four, I had completely forgotten about that team, so it was cool for Slott to make a connection there. It gave some extra depth to what is otherwise a simple slug-fest.

And that's really what this issue was, a show of strength for the Sinister Six before we see them take on Spider-Man next year. And it did a really good job at that, Slott refreshes in the reader's minds who each member of the Six is, and what their current status quo is, such as the Rhino having a death wish, or Doctor Octopus being a dead man walking (well, not really walking). This issue really did set the table for Spider-Man in 2012, and I can't wait for what's next. 2011 was a great year for the wall-crawler, hopefully the next one can top it.

Art - I normally like Humberto Ramos a lot and find him to be a perfect fit for Spider-Man, but unfortunately this issue looked a little rushed and lacking in detail, which is a shame. But I'll cut him some slack considering he put out so many issues of Spider-Island in very quick succession. I did like how horrifying Doctor Octopus looked, really creepy, and it really added to the fight he has with MODOK that they looked so similar.

Story - OK, first of all, the cover to this issue is false advertising, I read this comic, and the bad guys still won! You lied to me Spidey! You will see me in court! Oh yes.

Only joking, I would never sue Spider-Man. And I suppose he was right in one way, some bad guys did lose, as in the Intelligencia. But they were defeated by some other bad guys. It's a legal minefield, but it made for a very solid issue of Amazing Spider-Man.

Albeit one without Spider-Man in it at all. After the epic events of Spider-Island and an exhausting fight with the Vulture, Spider-Man takes a break and Slott instead shines a light onto a subplot that's been running for the last little while in the pages of ASM, and one that looks like being the big Spider-Story of 2012. The Sinister Six are back in earnest, and they mean business.

The main bulk of this story is Doc Octopus leading the Sinister Six up against the Intelligencia, the group of villains Loeb introduced in Hulk who are supposedly the smartest bad guys in the world. But Ock of course takes exception to that and decides to destroy them. It was a lot of fun to see the likes of Doc Ock and Chameleon go up against MODOK and Red Ghost. We're used to seeing heroes fight each other, but having villains do it is something new. Slott of course manages to come up with several interesting bits of continuity business in the fight, like the great scene where Sandman and the Wizard discuss their time together as members of the Frightful Four, I had completely forgotten about that team, so it was cool for Slott to make a connection there. It gave some extra depth to what is otherwise a simple slug-fest.

And that's really what this issue was, a show of strength for the Sinister Six before we see them take on Spider-Man next year. And it did a really good job at that, Slott refreshes in the reader's minds who each member of the Six is, and what their current status quo is, such as the Rhino having a death wish, or Doctor Octopus being a dead man walking (well, not really walking). This issue really did set the table for Spider-Man in 2012, and I can't wait for what's next. 2011 was a great year for the wall-crawler, hopefully the next one can top it.

Art - I normally like Humberto Ramos a lot and find him to be a perfect fit for Spider-Man, but unfortunately this issue looked a little rushed and lacking in detail, which is a shame. But I'll cut him some slack considering he put out so many issues of Spider-Island in very quick succession. I did like how horrifying Doctor Octopus looked, really creepy, and it really added to the fight he has with MODOK that they looked so similar.

OMCTO

Alright! So it took me two weeks because I had to read every Amazing Spider-Man since March to catch up to this issue, but that's my level of commitmentto the New Review Group, and my desire to have a perfect record. Thankfully, the next two weeks won't require any catch up because I don't give a crap about American Vampire and will be happy to read one issue and pan it, and Fatale only has one issue.

So, I like Dan Slott in general. Liked his She-Hulk and Mighty Avengers. But he's not a perfect writer by any means, and his stories can leave a lot to ne desired, az I said back in one of my reviews of ASM during the Big Time arc when I was still reading paper comics. IMO, Slott's biggest issue is that he tries to straddle the fence when it comes to his audience. Is he writing for older, established readers, or British Teens? I feel like he tries for both, and as a result, fails to please eiher as often as not.

This issue attempts to establish the Sinister Six as the next major antagonists in Amazing Spider-Man, and it does so by pitting them against the Intelligensia(sp?), a group of brainy villains. This should by all rights be an exciting issue because of the pedigree of the characters involved, but for me it was lackluster. Part of it is that the art is just awful, and the villains don't seem very threatening when they're depicted as warped cartoon characters. Part of it is that Slott's writing tends to depict the characters as jokes, and he goes for cheap gags over compelling storytelling's.

I get the feeling that Slott genuinely likes the characters he writes and respects their history, but maybe he thinks he's more hilarious than he actually is or something, and so he writes everything in this sort of tongue in cheek, wink wink nudge nudge sort of way that ruins any emotion and momentum behind his characters and stories.

Did I mention that I can't stand the art?

Overall, I think Slott has a lot of potential and sometimes you can see that in Amazing Spider-Man, such as for a lot of the Spider Island arc, but other times, like during Big Time and in this issue, his work comes off as immature. Yes, even for comics.

I still consider myself a fan and will keep reading his work, despite he fact that this review sounds harsh. I look forward to Slott maturing as a writer and realizing his potential.

Ramos sucks. He's competent and I appreciate that he has a unique style, but I personally hate that style. I had a lot of trouble following the action here, especially with Weapon Zero, which supposedly shot people into space and was the central device in the story, allegedly used repeatedly by Doc Ock and MODOK to decide the battle. Other than the first time it was used in the issue, I was completely unable to figure out when it was activated.

Story: 6Art: 2Subtotal: 4Kindle autocorrecting Slott to Aloft and making me retype his name over and over: -1Overall: 3

OMCTO

Alright! So it took me two weeks because I had to read every Amazing Spider-Man since March to catch up to this issue, but that's my level of commitmentto the New Review Group, and my desire to have a perfect record. Thankfully, the next two weeks won't require any catch up because I don't give a crap about American Vampire and will be happy to read one issue and pan it, and Fatale only has one issue.

So, I like Dan Slott in general. Liked his She-Hulk and Mighty Avengers. But he's not a perfect writer by any means, and his stories can leave a lot to ne desired, az I said back in one of my reviews of ASM during the Big Time arc when I was still reading paper comics. IMO, Slott's biggest issue is that he tries to straddle the fence when it comes to his audience. Is he writing for older, established readers, or British Teens? I feel like he tries for both, and as a result, fails to please eiher as often as not.

This issue attempts to establish the Sinister Six as the next major antagonists in Amazing Spider-Man, and it does so by pitting them against the Intelligensia(sp?), a group of brainy villains. This should by all rights be an exciting issue because of the pedigree of the characters involved, but for me it was lackluster. Part of it is that the art is just awful, and the villains don't seem very threatening when they're depicted as warped cartoon characters. Part of it is that Slott's writing tends to depict the characters as jokes, and he goes for cheap gags over compelling storytelling's.

I get the feeling that Slott genuinely likes the characters he writes and respects their history, but maybe he thinks he's more hilarious than he actually is or something, and so he writes everything in this sort of tongue in cheek, wink wink nudge nudge sort of way that ruins any emotion and momentum behind his characters and stories.

Did I mention that I can't stand the art?

Overall, I think Slott has a lot of potential and sometimes you can see that in Amazing Spider-Man, such as for a lot of the Spider Island arc, but other times, like during Big Time and in this issue, his work comes off as immature. Yes, even for comics.

I still consider myself a fan and will keep reading his work, despite he fact that this review sounds harsh. I look forward to Slott maturing as a writer and realizing his potential.

Ramos sucks. He's competent and I appreciate that he has a unique style, but I personally hate that style. I had a lot of trouble following the action here, especially with Weapon Zero, which supposedly shot people into space and was the central device in the story, allegedly used repeatedly by Doc Ock and MODOK to decide the battle. Other than the first time it was used in the issue, I was completely unable to figure out when it was activated.

Story: 6Art: 2Subtotal: 4Kindle autocorrecting Slott to Aloft and making me retype his name over and over: -1Overall: 3

Wrasslin' Fan

S.F. Jude Terror wrote:Alright! So it took me two weeks because I had to read every Amazing Spider-Man since March to catch up to this issue, but that's my level of commitmentto the New Review Group, and my desire to have a perfect record. Thankfully, the next two weeks won't require any catch up because I don't give a crap about American Vampire and will be happy to read one issue and pan it, and Fatale only has one issue.

I await your review of American Vampire, because as it stands it's pretty annoying that I'm the only one to review it.

Wrasslin' Fan

S.F. Jude Terror wrote:Alright! So it took me two weeks because I had to read every Amazing Spider-Man since March to catch up to this issue, but that's my level of commitmentto the New Review Group, and my desire to have a perfect record. Thankfully, the next two weeks won't require any catch up because I don't give a crap about American Vampire and will be happy to read one issue and pan it, and Fatale only has one issue.

I await your review of American Vampire, because as it stands it's pretty annoying that I'm the only one to review it.